Thoracic Surgery in North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Who is the Thoracic Surgeon 

Thoracic Surgeon deals with surgery of the chest organs: breast, lung surgery, heart, esophagus, mediastinum.

Thoracic Surgeon carries out the treatment of patients with malignant and benign diseases of the lungs, pleura, trachea, mediastinum, esophagus, diaphragm, stomach.  They cure the acute chest traumas and its complications. The main pathology, faced by thoracic surgeon, is lung cancer - the main cause of death from cancer.

Diseases of the Thoracic Surgery

• Diseases of the mediastinum (mediastinitis, mediastinal cysts, mediastinal tumor);
• Diseases of the thymus gland;
• Purulent diseases and lung tumors;
• Diseases of the esophagus (esophagitis, reflux esophagitis, ulcers, dysphagia, gastroesophageal reflux, achalasia, spastic disorders, scleroderma);
• Diseases of the heart and blood vessels.

When to call a Thoracic Surgeon

Esophageal symptoms include:

• Heartburn;
• Belching;
• Hiccups, vomiting;
• Dysphagia - a violation of the passage of food through the esophagus;
• Sensation of a lump behind the breastbone;
• Odynophagia - pain during the passage of food through the esophagus;
• Pain in epigastrium and esophagus.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Thoracic Surgery

As a special diagnostic methods are used radiographic techniques, bronchoscopy, esophagoscopy, bronchography, thoracoscopy, arthroscopy, laparoscopy, hysteroscopy, echocardiography, spirography, ultrasonic methods, biopsy, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, isotopic methods.

Currently actively developing endoscopic thoracic surgery, which uses the most advanced technology. Due to the low trauma surgery, in thoracic surgery there are no restrictions on the age of the patient - it is used for children from an early age and for the elderly.